Cryptozoologists

Who Were The Dogheads?

Click on the above image of a doghead to make it grow larger. Dogheads were more than mythological creatures, according to some ancient sources. One of them even became a Saint, as per: St. Christopher the Doghead Who were the dogheads? What is cynocephaly all about? Wikipedia (not a source that should be the only one a person ever uses), in discussing cynocephaly, has this piece of modern trivia: “In the USA there are tales of dog-headed creatures, including the Dogman of Michigan, and the wolf-like Beast of Bray Road of Wisconsin, which terrorized a neighbourhood in the early 1990s.” [...]

Grice Roast Anyone?

The Shetland pig, or grice, was a specific and special feral boar that was driven into extinction 100 years ago. It was called a “scourge of lambs, landowners and local produce.” There are no known photographs of it, although some drawings (such as the one above) exist. Highlighted in BBC News and other media, it’s been all grice and no pig with this news. The Scotsman recently noted the grice’s distinctive appearance: Short, squat, with a mohawk of bristled hair running down its spine, the grice was a primitive domesticated pig that became extinct after locals on the island were [...]

How About A Cryptomundo Write-In?

From November 29, 2005, this “Name The Mystery Fish” blog image remains the readers’ favorite. (You can click on it to make the postcard image above bigger.) But who remembers blogs or mystery fish, without awards? LOL. ‘Tis the season…let the voting begin; let the year-end awards drumbeat start. Web awards, of course, are all over the place. There are the Webby, the Golden Web, and the Zorgy Awards, to name a few, for websites and more. It looks like Cryptomundo has been shut out of those for yet another year, and remains as hidden (to award givers) as most [...]

Ozark Howler: Faux Cryptozoologie

During the last decade, several attempts have occurred to promote the "Ozark Howler" as a real cryptid. After the first round of efforts, I gathered the specifics of the story, discovered the identity of the original hoaxer, and submitted the overview of what happened in a draft manuscript written with Jerome Clark in 1998. The draft would eventually become a published book. A photograph of a real howler, the black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) of South America. Photographer Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian. The editors at Simon and Schuster, deciding to delete about 25% of the content of the draft mostly due [...]

Keel News Now & Mothman 40 Years Ago

Today is the symbolic 40th anniversary of the beginning of the modern era of Mothman sightings. On this date, I am happy to pass along the news (from Doug Skinner) that John A. Keel, 76, uncomfortable but very much alive, has been released from the rehab facility to his home. My very best wishes to Keel for a speedy recovery. Four decades ago, Keel did not know his life was going to take him down this road to Mothman. Intriguingly in 1966, a new book of his, The Fickle Finger of Fate, had just been published. Events were unfolding in [...]

My Comic Life

My sinister dark side (above) is given some cartoon life, circa 2000, by an unknown artist on Fox TV’s “Freaky Links” production team (who had just become famous for their Blair Witch Horror). It is weird to see yourself through others’ eyes and realize the vision can be so similar, or not, among different artists. I’ve been on television, my photograph is not rare, and yet, here’s how artists, years apart, “see me.” In 2004, racing through the pages of Swamp Thing #7 and #8, I was depicted as “Coleman Wadsworth,” cryptozoologist (above and directly below, running for my life [...]

Crypto Urban Safari

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